Restlessness
by LiviMae
Summary: Set in Halt's Peril: Halt was still recovering from the poison and Will was still exhausted, but neither want to rest. How can Malcolm get them to sleep?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey Everyone. This is my first fanfiction, so please review. I need all the help I can get. **

**Hope you enjoy!  
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Malcolm knew it was going to be hard to convince halt to stay and heal for a few more days, but he also knew that he had a backup plan in case his attempts to convince him to rest.

"Halt" Malcolm began.

"if you are going to tell me to lay down and rest, I think I'm going to throttle you."

Malcolm sighed and sat down next to Halt, it was evening and Will and Horace were re-building the fire not too far away.

"Halt" he said "look at Will".

Halt frowned "why?"

"Just Look"

Halt turned and looked intently at Will and Horace. It was only then that he realized the lack of exuberance in Will's body language. Although he was laughing with Horace, his movements looked so heavy, it looked as if it was taking a lot of effort to do the simplest things. As he turned to face the fire Halt saw Will's eyes were bloodshot and heavy, his bags where so dark it was almost black. Even as he watched he yawned, Horace put his hand on his shoulder and gestured to the tent. Will shook his head and continued to lay logs on the fire. His hand was shaking slightly. Horace shook his head looking worriedly over at Will, then looked over at Malcolm and Halt and shrugged. There was not much he could do.

Halt was shocked "How did I miss this?" he asked quietly.

Malcolm gently laid a hand on his shoulder, "You were healing yourself, you are not always going to be at your best" Malcolm looked over at the boys, " but even though he knew you where getting better Will could not rest properly, he hasn't had a good rest for days"

He turned and looked intensely at Halt, "It is not just for you that I am asking to stay a few more days, Will needs the rest as well."

Halt nodded, "We will stay for a few more days" he finally took his eyes off of Will and turned to Malcolm, "Keep an eye on him, will you?" he asked.

Malcolm nodded "I promise."

"Good" Halt said and he laid back down on his mat, his strength slowly leaving him. "Now someone get him to bed, force him if you have to"

Malcolm chuckled, "Don't worry, I will get him to rest."

Halt closed his eyes and his breathing evened out as he slipped into a deep sleep.

Malcom stood up, "One down, one to go." And he headed over to the fire.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey Everyone, **

**Sorry it took me a while to update, but here is the second chapter.**

**RAPJ: Thanks, its good to know that people are enjoying it. Thanks for taking the time to review!**

**AreiaCannaid: Thanks so much! It really annoyed me how they jumped straight to Halt being well again. I'm glad you enjoyed it.**

**Oriande Moonshadow: I am hoping to write more, I can't promise anything regularly as my ideas come rather sporadically. Thanks so much for reviewing!**

**And now to the story.**

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Malcolm walked over to join the boys by the fire. Will looked up at him anxiously, "How is he?" He asked.

Malcolm smiled softly. "He is resting, but he will need much more before he is toy healed. He still has a slight fever, but it should pass before tomorrow."

Will stood up, "I'll take the first watch, Halt will still need someone to keep his fever down so that it does not get any higher."

Horace shook his head at his friend. " No Will, I'll take the first watch, you need to get some rest yourself."

Will scowled at Horace, looking remarkably like Halt at that moment. "I'm fine, I'll get some rest after I take my watch." His voice was firm, he would no for an answer.

Malcolm put his hand on Will's shoulder. "You know he is getting better, don't you? He asked, " he is no longer in any danger."

Will stood up quickly, his fists clenched and anger in every step he took as he paced. "But I almost lost him." He almost screamed at them, why couldn't they understand? He stopped, facing Halt as he rested not to far away. He spoke again this time in a whisper, " But I almost lost him." Tears were streaming down his face, he hastily wiped them away, not wanting for the others to see him like this, slowly cracking under the weight of all that had happened.

"Will" he heard Horace's voice right behind him. He turned back around and was shocked when he was pulled in to a bear hug. Horace's strong arms were wrapped around him. They both collapsed on the ground, Will sobbing into his friend's arms, Horace's strength gave Will the ability to finally break. Malcom watched the special, but rare, moment between the two best friends. He waited quietly as Will slowly settled down, and looked up at Malcolm with eyes that were red and raw.

"Please let me watch him, please."

The pure, raw emotion in those words almost made Malcolm give in, but he knew it could be the worst thing to do when Will was so sleep deprived. Malcom realised that under normal circumstances Will would agree to rest when he knew it was in everyone's best interest, but the lack of sleep meant that he couldn't approach this in the normal, reasonable fashion.

"Will" he said, "you getting some sleep, will be more beneficial to Halt's recovery then anything else you could do tonight."

Will was puzzled, his exhausted brain trying to make sense of that statement, but he was drawing a blank. "What?"

Malcolm crouched down beside them, "If Halt see's that you are not resting so you can take care of him, he will try and force his body to heal quicker then he should, his body won't get the healing he needs." Malcolm left like he was trying to talk to a small child, but as he looked at Will who was still trying to make sense of the statement, he realised that was exactly what he was doing. "That will not be good for him at all. But if he see's that you are well rested, he won't mind letting himself rest either."

Will nodded slowly, "I guess that makes sense, I think?"

Horace stood up, pulling Will up with him, and guided him to the nearest mat to Halt. He knew that even though he agreed to rest, he would sleep better being nearer to Halt. Will wasn't down for more than two seconds before he fell deep asleep.

Malcolm smiled to himself before he and Horace went back to the fire, leaving the two exhausted rangers, both mentally and physically, to sleep.

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**Thanks everyone for reading. I am thinking about doing a third chapter about Horace and Malcolm afterwards, but I am not entirely sure. Please let me know what you think! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey Everyone,**

**Thanks so much for reading my story and extra thanks to all those who reviewed. They were much appreciated.**

**Sorry for not having posted in a while, but I couldn't seem to write anything that I liked. Although I will count this as finished for now, I might update if I get the inspiration.**

**If anybody has any other unseen parts of the Rangers Apprentice books that you would like done, let me know and I'll have a crack at it.**

**Thanks again**


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